The God Who Sends

I love how man plans his way, and at the same time God directs his steps.  A great passage that illustrates this is when the donkeys owned by Kish went missing.  Kish asked his son Saul to take a servant and find the donkeys which were lost.  They went from city to city looking for the donkeys and as days passed their food was spent.  After a discussion Saul and his servant decided to go to the seer Samuel and ask for guidance.  Their visit was without appointment and were appearing unannounced, but God had already orchestrated the whole affair.

1 Samuel 9:15-17 reads, "Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, ¹⁶ "Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to me." ¹⁷ And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, "There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people."  Isn't God awesome?  God spoke to Samuel about the man from Benjamin He would send Him.  Saul had no idea he had been sent, for as far as he could tell he was on an aimless search for lost donkeys!  At the request of his father Saul obediently searched and at the same time was sent by God to Samuel to save God's people from the Philistines in response to their cries.  Samuel extended an offer of hospitality to Saul and his servant and they enjoyed a banquet prepared for them and others.

Like Saul, we can simply be going about our business--and it seem futile and pointless at that--yet God has a totally different purpose and end He will be faithful to accomplish.  We not may be one God intends to anoint as king or to be a deliverer of His people, but we can extend hospitality to those who are hungry or need a place to stay.  We can encourage one another with wisdom from God's word or be willing to accept a friendly offer of fellowship.  I imagine Saul had many things he would rather have done than look for lost donkeys, and yet it was part of God's unfolding plan on a path to becoming king.

Consider for a moment the way God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to seek and save the lost:  He experienced suffering, endured temptation, and overcame death on Calvary to atone for the souls of sinners.  Unlike Saul, Jesus knew the purpose of His earthly pilgrimage and how He would lay down His life to redeem the lost and rise from the dead in glory.  What appeared a grave injustice on every level satisfied the justice of God, and the disciples never saw it coming.  Praise God His ways are higher than ours and He knows what He is doing, even when we feel like we are spinning our wheels and going nowhere.  We can rest confidently in His goodness and grace when we are like Saul who had no idea where the donkeys had run off to or why.  In his situation and ours God is at work, and let us labour to trust and obey God wherever He sends us.